Neither Taurean Henderson nor Daniel Loper readily agreed when it was suggested Cumbie couldn't possibly have the arm to match B.J. Symons, who passed for an NCAA record 5,833 yards last year.

"I would say him and B.J. are probably about the same," said Henderson, the Red Raiders' running back who caught 78 passes in 2003. "There have been some times in practice he'll get the ball to me real fast, and I'm able to make a move on a person. With a lot of other quarterbacks, they drag the ball there, and by the time I get the ball, there's a defender around me."

This summer, Loper said Cumbie's arm is considerably stronger than Kliff Kingsbury's was going into Kingsbury's senior year (2002). Kingsbury threw for 5,017 yards that season. Loper, the Raiders' senior left tackle, said Symons and Cumbie "both have incredible arms."

"I go out there and play catch with them, being an ex-tight end," Loper said last month. "(Cumbie's passes) hurt my hands."

Cumbie said he sometimes needs to take velocity off mid-range passes to deliver a more catchable ball.

Cumbie's arm strength seems to be more of a preoccupation for fans than for Leach. There's not much to go on with Cumbie, who has thrown only 61 passes in his Tech career.

"They haven't seen him, so they just guess," Leach said. "Of course, B.J. had a strong one, so they assume the next guy doesn't. But Cumbie's always had a strong arm."

Of the five physical attributes Leach looks for in a quarterback, he lists arm strength fourth. Much higher on Leach's list of desirables are accuracy and decision making. He also values nimble feet in the pocket.

There have been too many outstanding quarterbacks with so-so arms, Leach contends.

"I've found that anybody that can throw it 45 (yards) or better can make all the throws," Leach said, "and Sonny throws considerably further than that."

During a recent practice, Henderson scooted out of the backfield and took off up the seam, passing cornerback Antonio Huffman along the way. Cumbie uncorked a pass that hit Henderson in stride, at least 50 yards downfield.

Leach said Cumbie is good at the 10-yard out route to Tech's "Y" inside receiver and the 15-yard crossing route. He said Cumbie also throws a good vertical ball.

Cumbie's favorites are the corner route, the deep drag across the middle and the skinny post.

"There's not a route that when (Leach) calls it, I dread it," Cumbie said.

When he was a sophomore in high school at Snyder, Cumbie started all 36 games at catcher for a baseball team that made the Region I-4A semifinals. When he was a senior, he pitched and posted a 12-3 record.

Late that spring, Cumbie was clocked at 91 mph - a one-time occurrence, but Cumbie said he was able to consistently throw in the high 80-mph range.

So why the fear of his aptitude as a passing quarterback?

"First of all, I think a lot of people really haven't seen me throw that much," Cumbie said. "I think the offense dictates what type of throws (to make). There are some plays where, pre-snap, I know we're going to have a guy deep, so I'm going to throw it deep. When they're dropping everybody, we're going to throw the nice, easy catchable passes underneath, and let them catch them and run.